The captain paid particular tribute to the bowling unit, who once again took 20 wickets on a flat surface.

"To take 20 wickets in each game having not won a toss and having the worst of the conditions to bowl in - the bowlers have done a fantastic job.

Shattered England captain Joe Root said his side had to be better while congratulating Australia for their performances.

"It is very difficult to take. Fair play to Australia - they have outplayed us in all three games. We've got to be better.

"I don't think captaincy has affected my bating, I thought I played pretty well here I just played a bad shot in the second innings."

It was Josh Hazlewood who did the damage on the final day’s play, capturing five wickets in the second innings and eight for the match in a superb performance of fast bowling.

He was ably supported by Nathan Lyon, who grabbed two wickets along with Pat Cummins.

(AAP)

Although rain threatened to halt play on the final day, the WACA ground staff’s efforts with covers, leaf blowers and grass clippings made the pitch ready for play after the downpours in Perth over the past day.

Australia would not be denied.

After a dominant performance with the bat, Australia’s bowlers came into England’s second dig full of energy and fire, and captured regular wickets.

Aside from Dawid Malan with 54, no one from the England batting order offered any resistance to the onslaught.

It means Australia reclaim the Ashes they lost in 2015 after a 3-2 series result in England. It's Australia's 33rd series victory in the Ashes, to England's 32.

Steve Smith's men required just the one single session on Monday to roll the tourists for 218. England reluctantly resumed on 4-132, clinging to hope that wet weather could keep the five-Test series alive.

Overnight rain seeped through the covers and soaked an area of the pitch, threatening to ruin the hosts' hopes of taking an unassailable 3-0 lead in the series.

The start of Monday's play was delayed by three hours, during which ground staff worked on the wet spot with blower vacuums while captains Smith and Joe Root were in near-constant dialogue with umpires.

Root appeared unhappy to hear play would start at 1pm local time.

The skipper's sense of unease was amplified by Josh Hazlewood's first delivery of the day, a shooter that straightened and clean bowled Jonny Bairstow.

Hazlewood finished the innings with figures of 5-48. Australia turned the screws while deliveries ripped and roared off the deck - inconsistently and violently.

Smith's sense of urgency grew as Moeen Ali soaked up 56 balls at the crease but Nathan Lyon created the day's second breakthrough, trapping the allrounder lbw to dismiss him for the fifth time this series.

Mitchell Starc was down on pace, hampered by a bruised heel that could potentially force him to miss the Boxing Day Test.

Hazlewood, who accounted for both openers in his first spell on Sunday, stepped up as the side's spearhead.

(AAP)

Hazlewood removed the final recognised batsman Dawid Malan for 54. Malan offered stubborn resistance before he was caught behind down the leg side.

As has been the case throughout the series, Australia cleaned up the opposition's tail with chin music.

Craig Overton was out edging to Hazlewood. Stuart Broad gloved a Pat Cummins bouncer and was caught behind, with the next delivery smacking the side of Jimmy Anderson's helmet.

Anderson recovered from the blow and resumed his innings but it merely delayed the inevitable. Cummins reclaimed the urn later in the spell when Chris Woakes guided a short ball straight to Tim Paine.

It capped a remarkable turnaround given England were 4-368 in their first innings at the WACA after winning the toss. Smith and Mitch Marsh's 301-run stand turned the Test on its head.

It's not much a delivery, having bowled a belter of a spell, but the short one down the leg side gets a strangle. Malan gets a glove or piece of bat on it and Paine takes the comfortable catch.

61.4 overs - England 6/188:England are doing the go-slow here. Not deliberately, mind you. There's a lot of good bowling going on there, and they're finding it difficult to get on the front or back foot reliably.

And there's a REVIEW for LBW, but it's not close as it's pitched well outside leg stump. But it did keep low, which is a good sign for the Australian bowlers.

Australia may be guilty of being a little short so far today, though with deliveries keeping down you can understand why.

57.1 overs - England 6/182:50 for Malan! Excellent from the England number 5.

He's 52 from 113, his fourth half century in eight Test matches.

Good innings.

54.5 overs - England 6/172:WICKET! Nathan Lyon strikes! Moeen almost LBW the ball before, strikes him on the pad again (this time without the little inside edge) and it's out - right in front.

Ali out for 11.

Michael Clarke not impressed with Ali's approach.

"No spin at the WACA, Nathan Lyon slides it straight on.

"That's bad batting. Having missed the one before, you can't be beaten like that again."

52.0 overs - England 5/165: Starc coming around the wicket to the two left-handers now, to bowl a mixture of short and full.

The lead is under 100.

49.0 overs - England 5/158: Lyon operating from the end Cummins started from, with Starc attacking the pads of the left-handers at the other.

But the England batsmen are doing well to repel them for now.

Lead for Australia is 101 now.

45.0 overs - England 5/149: Cummins persisting with short stuff here. Again - I'm not really sure why. Hazlewood is getting it to do plenty when he pitches it up.

But Starc is on to replace him now, and it looks as though he's reverse swinging it immediately.

There's more work going on on the pitch, and there's no time put on it.

2:55pm AEDT: Play will resume at 3:40pm AEDT, 12:40pm Perth time

The umpires have announced that play will get underway in 45 minutes time, despite all the rain from the past two days.

Almost 30mm in the Perth area in the last 36 hours. Covers still on the pitch though, as they showers keep rolling through.

Umpires admit third Test is in doubt

Day 5 preview

Australia's charge to Ashes victory in the third Test at the WACA is under threat courtesy of rain and leaky covers.

The Aussies head into the final day in a commanding position, with England 4-132 and still trailing the home team by 127 runs.

Both teams have been out to inspect the pitch, which has been affected by the rain that has been falling steadily since Sunday night.

Ground staff are using leaf blowers to dry out the pitch, with the umpires indicating play can only continue if it is the same state as the first four days.

Reports suggest the rain will subside at 1pm (4pm AEDT), but England will be reticent to continue as a draw keeps them in the hunt to retain the urn.

Day 4 report

Australia are well placed to reclaim the Ashes with an emphatic victory in the third Test, having broken records with the bat then reduced England to 4-132 late on day four at the WACA.

Australia posted their highest total in a home Ashes Test innings, declaring at 9-662 some three and a half overs after Sunday's meal break.

England require a further 127 runs to make the hosts bat again. The enormity of their challenge was underlined by a near-unplayable delivery from Mitchell Starc that straightened after hitting a crack then uprooted James Vince's off stump.

"Ball of the Ashes and possibly the ball of the 21st century," Shane Warne remarked on social media.

Mother Nature, not mother country, looms as the biggest threat to Steve Smith's side taking an unassailable 3-0 series lead in Perth.

Heavy rain stopped play some five minutes before the scheduled tea break on day four.

The day's final session started on time but swirling showers soon had the Barmy Army dancing in their seats, with the umpires finally calling for the covers at 4.45pm local time.

More rain is predicted on the final day of play.

Visiting captain Joe Root may need a downpour of biblical proportions to keep the series alive after his summer of woe continued on Sunday.

Root was undone by Nathan Lyon's first delivery of the innings. Fittingly it was Smith who clutched the edge that careered off Tim Paine's gloves, sealing the fate of the tourists' most talented batsman.

The captains' battle within a battle has been a no-contest. Smith is set to collect his second man-of-the-match award of the series and has 426 runs at 142; Root has managed 176 runs at 29.

Vince was obstinate during a 95-ball stay at the crease but on 55 was left gobsmacked by a sensational ball from Starc.

Josh Hazlewood, bowling with the confidence created by a first-innings lead of 259 runs, dismissed both openers in a fired-up opening spell.

Hazlewood held a sharp return catch to remove Alastair Cook for 14, while Mark Stoneman was caught behind after prodding forward to a ball on a good length.

Earlier, Smith and Mitch Marsh were unable to extend their game-changing partnership of 301 runs.

Tim Paine and Pat Cummins further demoralised England in a 93-run stand, during which Root set defensive fields and opted against taking the third new ball as he waited for Smith to declare.